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Radar Waterskis has officially announced the release date and availability of the Vapor, their new flagship tournament ski. After 10 months of development, The Vapor will be available on Tuesday August 13th, coinciding with the start of the U.S. National Waterski Championships. Skis will be available in West Palm Beach, FL, Canadian Nationals and specialty retail partners the following week.

“This ski was made for the tournament skier. Design was processed through the eyes of the national level competitor as much as our pro team. It only seems fitting that we would be displaying it for the first time at Okeeheelee Park and Predator Bay in Calgary during the two North American Nationals,” said Chris Sullivan, VP of Global Branding, “I wish we could speak with every skier worldwide about how excited we are for people to get on The Vapor.”

The Vapor will be available in 3 models. The Lithium Construction is Machined PVC and 100% carbon laminates. This Lithium Vapor will be the ski initially released in August, followed at a later date by the Graphite Vapor (Machined polyurethane with 100% carbon) and the Alloy Vapor (Machined polyurethane with carbon/fiberglass laminates). Sizes available are 63.5, 65, 66, 67, 68 and 69.5.

“The ski’s been on the water for a while now. Whitney McClintock won Moomba on a prototype. Jason McClintock tied the Canadian national Record and both he and Rossi rode Vapor at the Masters. Plus some of our test team have had tournament PB’s the first weekend riding. Timing is everything, so it’s been hard to keep the excitement concealed,” added Sullivan, “We followed our proven design guidelines with some new twists. This ski is running new flex, a further forward boot location and all new fin settings from anywhere we’ve been in the past.”

Attain the balanced of the pros.
All of the worlds best slalom skiers keep their shoulders level and their head upright throughout the turn.Adopting this posture affords you optimum balance and the ability to maintain your speed,as oppsed to falling clumsily into the turn.The key to this upright approach,however,lies far in advance of the turn itself.1.WATCH THE HANDLES HEIGHT
The farther the handle is from your body,the higher it will be in relation to your hips.Initiating your edge change with a high handle will cause your upper body to tilt to the inside of the turn,making it impossible to maintain level shoulders.Ensure that your elbows are near your vest as you leave the second wake,so you have a low handle and an erect upper body.2.TRANSITION INSTEAD OF RELEASE
As you move through your edge change,it is imperative to maintain pressure on the rope.A rapid decrease in pressure indicates a significant loss of outward direction.Keep your upper body and handle as still as possible as you swing out toward the apex of the turn.3.CONTROL YOUR REACH
A hasty reach toward the boats pylon will result in decreased pressure on the rope,causing you to tilt in toward your turn prematurely.To maintain your balanced,level stance into the turn,slowly feed the handle out,toward your direction of travel.This will allow your ski to arc out to its widest point later,nearer to the buoy or the point at which you wish to complete your turn.4.RESIST ROTATION
Mastering the final component of a balanced turn often comes down to patience.Rotating your upper body into the turn will result in you inside shoulder dipping,effectively putting on the brakes.Instead of rotating,keep your upper body facing down the lake until your outside hip and free hand come back to the handle together.This will allown you to complete your turn with your elbows near your vest and your upper body erect,ready to start the whole process again.

The first form of water-skiing was the “aqua-planing” in which the athlete was gliding on the water surface standing on an “aqua-plane” tied behind a speedboat. In Greece, “aqua-planing” was first reported in 1945-1946 in the wider area of Volos.

Water-skiing as we know it today, e.g. with one or two skis, is first reported to have taken place as a recreational sport, in Vouliagmeni Bay, Attica, in 1957. Two years later (1959), the Nautical Club of Vouliagmeni pioneers by founding the first competition water-ski department.

As a popular and also a recreational sport, water-ski offers families the opportunity to participate in the sport. Everyone with the age of 5 and above can practice water-ski in the excellent athletic installations of the 500 water-ski schools and 25 Nautical Clubs at almost all of the numerous seaside resorts and Islands in Greece Competition Activity – Hellenic Water Ski Federation
Nautical Club of Vouliagmeni was the first Greek athletic club pioneering in competition water-ski (1959). Until 1963 it represented Greece in the World Water Ski Union, known today as International Water Ski Federation (IWSF).

Hellenic Water Ski Federation (HWSF) was founded in 1963; Greek national water-ski teams participate in international competitions since 1965. HWSF consistently aims in promoting water-skiing by supporting (technically and financially) water-ski clubs throughout the country, thus implementing the vision of its founder and first President, the late Athanassios Diakakis (1963-1980).

Since its foundation, HWSF keeps achieving amazing results in the following:

• Competition sector, by the participation of HWSF’s technical members (national and international judges, drivers, etc.) in international events and committees and also by the continuous progress and achievements of the Greek athletes.

The organization of the 1994 European Championships held in Ioannina and the 1997 European Championships held in Kaiafa lake in Peloponnese were a great success. The opening ceremony was held at the ancient stadium of Olympia. It was the first sport allowed to have held an opening ceremony there for more than 16 centuries. An even greater success were the 2000 World Junior and the Under 21 Championships held at the lake Stratos in Agrinio at the new water-ski installations of the Hellenic Federation.

Since the beginning of competition water-skiing in Greece, the progress of our skiers is even more impressive. Greek skiers have stood many times on the podium of World and European Competitions. Greek National team is ranked among the first 6 teams in Europe and the first 12 in the world.